How to Beat Sigrun, God of War’s Toughest Valkyrie

God of War’s nine Valkyrie bosses are hidden throughout the world; optional bosses that players can take on after completing the main story. The ninth and final of these Valkyries is named Sigrun. Not only is she the strongest Valkyrie, but she is quite likely the strongest opponent in God of War. The Valkyrie Queen stands head and shoulders even above the other eight Valkyries in terms of power.

Sigrun dwells in the Council of Valkyries. To access her arena, you will need to have defeated all eight of the other Valkyries; Eir, Geirdriful, Gondul, Gunnr, Hildr, Kara, Olrun, and Rota. Return to the Lake of Nine and enter the Council of Valkyries, where you can place the eight defeated bosses’ helmets on their thrones. Doing so opens a Realm Tear, which you can use to summon Sigrun. As with every Valkyrie fight, you should ensure that your Spartan Rage and Runic attack meters are full, and that you have a Resurrection Stone ready to use. You are very likely to need it.

Fighting Sigrun Part I: General Tactics

Compared to the other Valkyries, Sigrun has a huge number of different attacks. Do your best to refrain from attacking except when you are absolutely sure of a hit, as the Valkyrie Queen is adept at catching players off-guard. You should be very careful with your health. Avoid stamping on the green health-gems when Sigrun isn’t staggered; she will take advantage of the opening to strike if you aren’t careful.

Sigrun can be a difficult foe to pin down with Spartan Rage. If you enter the battle with a full Rage meter and a Resurrection Stone, you should be able to use Rage twice; before and after you die. When you use Rage, don’t over-complicate things. Focus on pure R1 attacks, as she will quickly avoid more powerful maneuvers. Attempt to interrupt her with R2, but only if you are sure of landing a hit. Concentrate on doing damage and getting your health meter back up; keep it simple and effective.

Fighting Sigrun Part II: Ground Attacks

Sigrun will often attack by swirling her wings like many other Valkyries, and these attacks can be blocked. However, she can end the combo with any one of a random assortment of things. She might retreat, use her wings to form a shield, or she might leap up and slam down with an unblockable dive that does enormous damage. Be ready to dodge on a hair trigger. When the Valkyrie Queen attacks with her stave, she can blind you if she lands a hit. Her first attack with this weapon has an AOE shockwave, so be sure to dodge back and dodge again to avoid her follow-up slam.

On the ground, Sigrun may suddenly dash at you with a powerful stab. This is telegraphed by a red circle, and cannot be blocked. Beware, however, as she may sometimes make a wing attack moments after the dash. This can be blocked, but may catch you off-guard if you were hoping to attack in the opening after her dash. Sigrun may also attack with a dash where she whirls her scythe. This attack can be blocked, or parried if you are feeling confident and have health to spare.

Sigrun can use her wings as a shield to block your attacks for a short time. Beware, because when she ends this defense, she will unleash a damaging shockwave. You can break through the shield by double-tapping L1 or using a strong or Runic attack. Attack quickly once you’ve broken through.

Fighting Sigrun Part III: Aerial Attacks

When Sigrun takes to the air, she once again has a selection of attacks to choose from. As such, try to use Atreus’ arrows to knock her back to the ground. First of all, she can fill the arena with blinding fog that makes it very difficult to see her, and thus, to anticipate her attacks. If this happens, keep moving and stay as defensive as possible until it clears. Try using shock damage to make her slightly more visible.

If Sigrun slams the ground with her stave she will cause an explosion. This does a huge chunk of damage unless you are very far away, and can’t be blocked or dodged. She can also jump out of sight and slam down with an unblockable stomp. This attack is telegraphed by a red circle, so dodge at once if you see it. She can jump up to three times in a row, so keep on the move. When she finally lands, she will be vulnerable to a counter-attack. If she lands the dive, she will be staggered if you can break out of it. This gives you another chance to strike, albeit at the cost of a lot of health.

Sigrun can also soar across the arena, dive into you, and slam your head into the ground. This cannot be blocked, and she can attack with it up to three times. Once again, the best strategy is to stay mobile.

Fighting Sigrun Part IV: Projectiles

When it comes to projectiles, Sigrun is especially deadly. She fires yellow projectiles when flying. Multiple bolts can be blocked, but if you see a red circle, dodge the single projectile. Similarly, she can also fire volleys of ice shards or smoky darts, and these can be blocked. When she fires ice shards, however, she occasionally fires one giant ball which cannot be blocked.

When Sigrun is on the ground, she may use her scythe to send waves of energy rushing across the floor at you. These waves cannot be blocked. One of her most dangerous attacks is when she starts to set the arena on fire. This attack is telegraphed by a red circle, indicating that it cannot be blocked. Keep out of any red circles on the ground, as they will quickly ignite and burn for a short while. You should also keep away from Sigrun here, as she will start to strafe and dash at Kratos with unblockable stabs and other attacks.

Fighting Sigrun Part V: Combos

Perhaps the deadliest part of facing Sigrun is her ability to chain effortlessly from one attack into another. While she has numerous different combos to use against you, some of her most dangerous are as follows.

Sigrun may dash across the arena and attack with her wings, then suddenly strike with a stab that cannot be blocked. Be ready to transition very quickly from blocking the wings to dodging the stab. She may also chain her smoky dart projectiles into an unblockable dashing stab. Again, be ready to dodge after blocking the darts.

The Rewards for Defeating Sigrun

If you can defeat God of War’s fiercest boss, you will be rewarded with the Epic enchantment “Njord’s Temporal Stone”, which is part of the game’s Infinity War Easter egg. You will also get an Epic axe pommel called Retribution, Perfect Asgardian Steel, and regular Asgardian Steel.